Star Trek Hunter Ep 14: When Death Comes
by RobertBruceScott
Summary: The U.S.S. Hunter's crew is wounded, traumatized and in shock from the loss of two of their own. As they finally leave Cun Ling for Starbase 11, the Hunter's crew find themselves haunted by ghosts from their recent past. As the hauntings get worse, more and more of the crew are incapacitated...
1. Ep 14x1: Layover

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 14: When Death Comes  
Scene 1: Layover  
.

14.1  
Layover  
.

Once the U.S.S. Hunter's crew members were released from Trantor General Hospital, it was hardly surprising that Trantor was the last place any of the Hunter's crew wanted to go to. With her ground operations department seriously traumatized and the rest of her crew reeling from the loss of two crew members and two others grievously wounded, Justice Minerva Irons, with approval from Star Fleet Operations, removed the U.S.S. Hunter from active duty and placed the ship on emergency reserve status.

Ba Sing Se was the only place the entire crew felt safe on Cun Ling - largely because they were surrounded by Justice Irons' family members. And unlike Trantor with its peerless glass skyscrapers, the great Earth Kingdom city had a warmth to it that the crew desperately needed.

To reduce the burden on her crew, Justice Irons ordered the U.S.S. Hunter landed. Chief Flight Specialist Dewayne Guth parked the Hunter on the very courtyard where a day before Irons and her director of flight operations had given the eulogy for Flight Specialist Joey Chin. Following non-emergency landing protocol, the tactical unit, the wagon and the two interceptors were undocked and parked separately nearby.

.

Lt. Cmdr. Kenneth Dolphin wasted no time recruiting a replacement for Joey Chin. Chief Flight Specialist Thyssi zh'Qaoleq received a bit of a cold welcome at first until a rather exasperated Lt. Tauk sternly reminded his ground team that although they had been kidnapped and tormented by andorians, many, many other andorians had come to their rescue.

Thyssi came highly recommended. She had served in Commander Red's squadron at the Battle over Rings, facing off against the forces of House Shav and had piloted one of the six interceptors that had formed up behind (then) Lt. Dolphin during his attack run on the I.G.V. Ravonnelle.

Replacing Investigator Lynhart Shran would not be anywhere near as easy and Lt. Tauk, 2nd Lt. T'Lon and Investigator Buttans Ngumbo were in no hurry to try.

.

Although she needed a vacation as much as, if not more than her crew, Justice Minerva Irons quickly realized that was not going to happen on Cun Ling. As she ran from one meeting to another ceremony, Irons found herself looking forward to the relative peace of space travel.

The Tribunal needed her to help train new appellate justices. Star Fleet and the Federation Council (separately and jointly) had no end of briefings and debriefings over the Andoria First Incident (as the initial murder of 37 members of Andoria First along with the following kidnapping of the Hunter's crew and ensuing assault on th'Istel was now collectively being referred to.) Admirals and Federation Councilmembers were surreptitiously pointing fingers at the new Emperor of Andoria for setting these deadly events in motion. Emperor Sin's unrelenting, fiery rhetoric toward Andoria First only added fuel to these speculations.

At least, in deference to Justice Irons' age and the perception that she, too, had been traumatized by the events in Trantor, all of these meetings were held in the Imperial Palace at Ba Sing Se.

At the end of one of these interminable meetings, Irons almost stormed out of the room and nearly ran over Special Agent Johnny Canada of the Trantor Police Intelligence Division. Canada quickly summoned her into a side room.

.

"I had to bend a lot of rules and break more than a few to obtain this information, your honor," Canada said. He handed Irons a reader. "Autopsy reports on the 37 andorians that we found dead in the streets of Trantor."

"They weren't killed by phasers?" Irons asked.

"Andorian phasers," Canada said, "but… not current ones. The signatures left by these phasers were consistent with phasers distributed to Andorian Imperial Guard, but that generation of phaser was entirely decommissioned four years ago and all AIG forces have been resupplied with a newer model. Each phaser leaves a slightly different wound signature. Forensic examiners with some experience can easily tell the difference between an Andorian Imperial Guard phaser and a Star Fleet issue phaser. Noting differences in model types is much more refined skill set, but I have a friend…"

"I will need to run this past my people," Irons said. "If this bears out, it appears someone is trying to frame the new Emperor for starting an Andorian civil war in the middle of downtown Trantor."

"Some pretty powerful people did not want me to have this information, which makes me reasonably certain they do not want you to know. Including some of my superiors in the Intelligence Division," Canada said.

Irons tapped the reader. "Can this be authenticated?"

"I made sure to give you everything you need to authenticate those files. Your Lieutenant Tauk should have no problem with it," Canada said. "But if you want to make use of this, you really need to have your own people verify it, which means going through official channels – and soon, before those bodies are released to their families. Better bring your big guns right from the start. I suspect there will be far more than your normal bureaucratic resistance to that request."

"Thank you, Agent Canada."

"Don't mention it…" Johnny Canada said with his trademark friendly smile, and then added, "Ever…"

.

It was only moments later that Irons had a private meeting with Ensign Tolon Reeves. Reeves had met with Lt. Tauk, Lt. Commander Mlady and Commander David Pepper about the status of his team. Some of the rooms in the Imperial Palace, including the grand ballroom, had been pressurized and the atmosphere purified to give Tauk a break from staying onboard the Hunter.

.

"So, Reeves, I understand you want to stay with us," Irons said, trying to conceal her exhaustion as she sat down at her eighth conference table for the day. "We could probably find you a less hazardous post so you could spend more time with your remaining limbs…"

Ensign Tolon smiled ruefully. "Dr. Tali Shae told me I qualify for a medical discharge under honorable circumstances.."

"Loss of limb qualifies," Irons said. "How is the prosthetic? It certainly looks natural. I wouldn't notice it if I didn't already know."

Tolon lifted his left hand, then let it drop at full speed onto the malachite table top with a resounding cracking sound. "It registers as pain, but it doesn't hurt." He lifted his hand, turned it around. "No damage – that would have at least bruised my other hand, if not broken it. It looks real but… it… just doesn't feel... real"

Irons laid her hand on Tolon's prosthetic hand. "It will be some time before this starts to feel normal to you. But I have known other people with prosthetics. You do get used to them. So tell me about your team."

Tolon looked down, then looked at Irons. "It's time to let them get on with their lives. They came in as a family unit and Star Fleet kept them together, in spite of normal procedure. They have less than two months before their tour of duty is up. I could see giving them a security assignment far from the front lines, but the Hunter is no place for them to be serving after all this."

"Why do you think that?" Irons asked.

"I have serious ethical concerns about ever putting those kids in danger of being taken prisoner again," Tolon responded. "Something that probably needs to be considered when we recruit people from their kind of background. They have done an amazing job, but I don't think anyone appreciated until now just how traumatized they were by growing up more or less in slavery and deprivation. Rys and Garr are waking up screaming and crying – and they're far better off than Jarrong and Cantys. Cantys is putting on a brave face, but she spends hours crying every day. And Jarrong is just going through the motions at this point. She has a hard time focusing. They will get better, but not before their tour of duty is up."

"But here you are, ready to plug this thing in," Irons tapped Tolon's prosthetic left hand, "and walk back into the fight?"

"You know, it's weird," Tolon said. "You would think at my age – I'm 47 – that all the adventure would have been squeezed out of me by now. But I've never felt so alive. I think if I were to go to some backwater and work at a desk at this point… I'd just go mad. It's like I'm desperate to get out there again. More now than ever."

"You're going to need a new team," Irons said. "I agree with you about your charges – I think I have an alternative for them. We'll get together with them once we get underway. I am really eager to get back into space."

.

After a full day, Justice Irons finally returned to her quarters, desperately needing sleep. She had been assigned a massive suite within the palace – easily the size of deck 8 on the Hunter (which included her quarters, her office, the bridge, the executive conference room and the ground operations center.) Each of the two entrances into her suite were guarded non-stop by two Dai Li agents.

Irons noticed that these two agents appeared slightly disconcerted, but she was too tired to investigate further and stepped into her drawing room. She was half in a mood to collapse on one of the divans in her drawing room without bothering to make it to the master bedroom… But there were four people in her drawing room waiting for her. And not just any four people. Two humans, a vulcan and an andorian – an aenar, actually…

.

"It is wonderful that the four of you are together," Irons mused tiredly. "But in my quarters? This can't be good…"

.  
14.1


	2. Ep 14x2: Secret Summit at Ba Sing Se

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 14: When Death Comes  
Scene 2: The Secret Summit at Ba Sing Se  
.

14.2  
The Secret Summit at Ba Sing Se  
.

Two of Irons' visitors were on a first-name basis with her and another of them she had met and parted on friendly terms with. So she greeted the fourth, whom she had met only once and under inauspicious circumstances.

.

"Esteemed Councilmember Ivonovic," said Irons. "It has been little over a year, but it feels like we last met a lifetime ago."

"My friends call me Emory, your honor," Ivonovic replied. "I hope that you will be among them despite the, um, festivities of our last meeting..."

Irons inspected Ivonovic's face carefully. "You are not the same man I met a year ago."

"He is not the same man I met a week ago," intoned Emperor Sin IV. "The overweening ambition is still there, but it is no longer a cold and entirely self-serving ambition."

Minerva Irons smiled in spite of her exhaustion. "You have earned quite the reputation for speaking your mind, Emperor."

"I could speak the minds of other people," the emperor said, turning his blind eyes toward Irons. His antennae were still focused on Ivonovic. "His… Yours… Theirs…" The emperor's antennae focused on Irons and then the other two in in time to his remarks. "But that would be impolitic. So I usually settle for speaking only my own."

.

The other two in the room walked up to Irons. "Minerva," said a thickly built, dark skinned, middle aged woman.

"Gently, Mary, I have grown brittle with age," Irons said as the Federation President, Mary Rodriguez embraced her. As President Rodriguez stepped back, Minerva Irons greeted the vulcan by placing her hand on his chest – he returned the gesture. "Saoron, you have been traveling widely recently."

"It appears I have much to undo, Minerva," said the small, bald, elderly vulcan premiere. "An illness has struck our people and it is far more dangerous and widespread than I had at first imagined. These are perilous times." He inclined his head toward Ivonovic and Emperor Sin IV. "And perilous times, it seems, call for perilous allies."

.

The andorian emperor did not appear to react to this characterization. Ivonovic followed his lead.

.

"Recent events here threaten our alliance," said Emperor Sin IV. "It is best our presence here goes unmarked for now. I have heard the rumors that you have heard, Minerva Irons. I vigorously pursue Andoria First and will prosecute them relentlessly. But within the federation, we are working through our negotiated extradition processes. We are not leaving bodies to waste under the suns of the worlds of our allies."

"There are a growing number among the homeworld coalition who are accusing you of just that, Emperor," said Mary Rodriguez.

"If my forces had taken those people, their bodies would not have been found in lower Trantor. They would have been returned to Andoria for trial," Shav replied. "I have no desire for war. This is a police action to be conducted quietly and strictly according to our laws and the laws of our allies. I am sending out far more lawyers than soldiers to secure these people."

"Emperor, I would like to have my forensic investigators conduct an independent autopsy on the bodies of the Andoria First members who were killed last week. I will need a formal request from someone with standing who can require the Trantor authorities to release the bodies."

"That is something I can accomplish," Emperor Sin IV responded.

.  
14.2


	3. Ep 14x3: Phaser Signatures

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 14: When Death Comes  
Scene 3: Phaser Signatures  
.

14.3  
Phaser Signatures  
.

Even the bureaucracy of Trantor was unable to stand up for a single day to a request from the Emperor of the Andorian Empire. Especially when the emperor's newly appointed ambassador indicated that if the bodies of the murdered Andorian citizens were not promptly surrendered, that the emperor himself would arrive at the police station, accompanied by an honor guard of 110,000 Andorian Imperial Guardsmen. And by promptly, the ambassador meant immediately.

This was taken as an empty threat for about fifteen minutes, which was the time needed for the Intelligence Division to confirm that two troop carriers were entering orbit with far more than 110,000 andorian soldiers onboard. By the time the first 15,000 Imperial Guardsmen stepped off their landing carriers, the Trantor Police Investigations Division had received a lecture from their legal services division in the relevant treaty law and before that number of Imperial Guardsmen had swollen to 30,000, the 37 andorian corpses were brought forward to be turned over to the Andorian Imperial government.

At this point, events were driven by the andorian bureaucracy, which insisted on landing all 110,000 soldiers so that Emperor Sin IV, resplendent in his white robes, could walk into the Trantor Police Headquarters, surrounded by Andorian Imperial Guardsmen in dress uniform (both inside and outside of the building) and personally receive and, despite his blindness, sign for the bodies in flawless handwriting.

Had this occurred anywhere else in the federation, any other city would have ground entirely to a halt. But this was Trantor and the vast majority of its nearly three billion citizens went on about their day blissfully oblivious to this impromptu State visit that had the Trantor Police Department in a blind panic.

.

Dr. Tali Shae, although a forensic expert, recused herself from the investigation (at her captain's recommendation) to forestall any grumbling that she might be biased because she was andorian. This left Dr. Sif as the senior forensic investigator for Star Fleet. However, because the Trantorian medical establishment was abuzz about Dr. Napoleon Boles, the half-bolian biologist joined in the investigation, along with a representative from the Trantor Medical Examiner's office - a bajoran woman - Dr. Orma Nurys.

The bodies were examined onboard the U.S.S. Hunter, currently landed on the grounds of the Imperial Palace at Ba Sing Se, and the examination broadcast and observed in detail at the Trantor Medical Examiner's office, Trantor Police Headquarters, Star Fleet Planetary Command (also located in Trantor), and the Andorian fleet currently in orbit.

Chain of custody had been verified by Trantor Blue Helmets, who had, at the invitation of the emperor, accompanied the bodies from their release to the Andorian Imperial Guard, onto the andorian shuttles that carried the bodies to Ba Sing Se and stayed with the bodies as they were carried from the shuttles across the Imperial courtyard onto the U.S.S. Hunter and into its forensic labs. At no time were the bodies beamed anywhere, to forestall any charges that they might be tampered with during transport.

.

Dr. Sif conducted the examinations in the large medical bay to accommodate a large number of witnesses, including the Trantor Police, Star Fleet and a delegation representing the Andorian Empire.

She recorded her forensic notes in a lecture format, which allowed her to simultaneously explain her conclusions to her audience as well as number of viewers and at the same time formally record these forensic notes for later use in a court of law if needed.

.

"The older generation of Andorian Imperial Guard (hereafter referred to as AIG) phasers leave a slight crosshatch burn pattern that will indicate the orientation of the emitter," Sif said. "When the weapon is held in the normal firing position, this slight crosshatch will appear at the top of the wound. The new AIG phasers, issued four years ago, while leaving the telltale burn marks of an andorian phaser, do not leave this small crosshatch pattern. Eighteen of these individuals presented with the crosshatch not oriented the way we would have expected. Either the shooters were holding their weapons sideways, or these victims were not standing when they were shot. Closer examination of the lungs of these victims shows they were exposed to a large amount of anesthetize gas and were probably unconscious when they were killed."

"We considered the possibility that this action might have been conducted by agents of House Shav," Sif continued. "While we cannot rule that out categorically, it is counter-indicated by the evidence. House Shav forces are exclusively armed with phasers manufactured by House Shav, which leave an entirely different burn pattern. The weapons that were used for these murders are largely available and will be difficult to trace. When the AIG changed over to the new phasers four years ago, the old weapons were sold as military surplus to ferengi weapons merchants, who have, in turn, sold them to many parties both within and outside of the federation…"

.  
14.3


	4. Ep 14x4: Quack Attack

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 14: When Death Comes  
Scene 4: Quack Attack  
.

14.4  
Quack Attack  
.

While the U.S.S. Hunter remained parked on the Imperial grounds, Lt. Cmdr. Dolphin had his department in the tactical unit, the wagon and the Hunter's two new long-range interceptors, on the fringes of the A Boo star system, running drills and learning new tactics. This gave his new pilot, Thyssi zh'Qaoleq, an opportunity to qualify on the wagon and the tactical unit and gave his other pilots a chance to get used to their new team mate.

Recruiting Thyssi was no accident. She had served in the Andorian Imperial Guard as a fighter pilot before joining Star Fleet, where she had served in Commander Red's squadron. Dolphin put her to work training his team in both the tactics she had learned in the AIG and also what she had learned from Commander Red.

These tactics were designed for squadron operations, not for the smaller group of vessels the Hunter could field. Dolphin was particularly interested in using her knowledge to develop new strategies for defending the Hunter against a potential attack by a squadron of interceptors.

.

"Big ships are most vulnerable from the top and underneath," Chief zh'Qaoleq said. She was flying Interceptor 2.A with Lt. Cmdr. Kenny Dolphin riding 2nd seat. The interceptor's communication system carried her voice to the remainder of the Flight Operations department.

Chief Guth was piloting Interceptor 1.A with 2nd Lt. Gaia Gamor riding 2nd seat. Flight Specialist Winnifried Salazaar was piloting the wagon with Ensign Ethan Phillips and Navigator Eli Strahl on board. Flight Specialist Dih Terri was piloting the tactical unit with Navigator Johanna Imex next to her at the navigator/tactical station and Lt. Tauk in the command seat behind them.

"Since the wagon and the tactical unit carry additional shielding, I would recommend stationing the wagon above the Hunter's platform and the tactical unit, in inverted position, below the platform's nacelle," Chief zh'Qaoleq continued.

Because the Hunter's platform was parked in Ba Sing Se, a virtual platform had been programmed into the computers of its support craft. Lt. Tauk was controlling this virtual platform from the command chair in the tactical unit.

Winnifried Salazaar positioned the wagon above the space occupied by this virtual platform and Dih Terri positioned the tactical unit below it.

"Inverted," Dolphin reminded Dih Terri.

In response, Flight Specialist Dih rotated the tactical unit clockwise 180 degrees along its longitudinal axis, flipping it upside down in relation to the wagon flying above it. The tactical unit was nearly twice the size of the wagon, but had less than half the crew space inside as it carried a heavy array of weaponry, additional shields and a complement of a dozen photon torpedoes.

"By inverting the tactical unit, you maximize the firing range of its phaser cannon relative to the platform," Dolphin continued. "But more importantly, you make it harder for attacking interceptors to target your torpedo tubes."

"Given the shield configuration of this unit, it also provides optimal shield coverage for the underside of the Hunter platform," Lt. Tauk added.

"How did he know that?" asked Chief zh'Qaoleq.

"Math genius," Chief Guth responded.

"Lot of smart people on this crew," Gaia Gamor added. "You'll get used to it."

Chief zh'Qaoleq shook her head, her antennae comically waving the opposite direction. "Okay, Lieutenant Commander, we need three unique names for the attack/defense patterns I have added to our computers. When you call them the first time, we'll just sit back, let the computers take control and get a feel for each pattern. After a few runs, we will take these birds off autopilot and run the attack patterns at half-speed, double-radius to get a better idea how to accomplish them manually. We shouldn't run them manually at full speed, tight pattern until we can reliably do it successfully in simulation."

"I invented these patterns specifically for this configuration," zh'Qaoleq continued, "so don't use common Star Fleet pattern terms like 'alpha' or "b" or numbers. These need to be three distinct words that everyone can easily remember."

Lt. Cmdr. Dolphin responded immediately: "Quack, Cackle, Caw."

"Okay, I speak English, but I do not know those words and my universal translator just gave me bird noises," zh'Qaoleq said.

"That's what they are, Thyssi," said Dewayne Guth.

.

Chief zh'Qaoleq turned to face Dolphin, in the seat just behind and slightly above her. "Red told me you're crazy… Bird sounds?"

Dolphin looked back at his newest pilot. Both had brilliant blue eyes. Dolphin let the silence linger for just a moment, then said, slowly, quietly but emphatically: "Quack… Cackle… Caw."

.

Thyssi zh'Qaoleq turned back to face forward. "Right. Now we need an additional term to add to each of these so we have a total of six distinct attack/defense patterns. Quack, Cackle and Caw (in Thyssi's voice, these sounded surprisingly close to the sounds made by a duck, a grackle and a crow respectively) are all stern-to-stem patterns. These can also be run stem-to-stern, designated by an additional term."

"Back," Dolphin said.

"All of these attack patterns start with the tactical unit and the wagon in their current configuration," zh'Qaoleq said, "For the Quack Attack, the interceptors will chase each other around the other three units in a clockwise rotation. Interceptor 1.A on the port side will swivel 180 degrees along its z axis so it is facing rear, then come up over the top of the stern of the wagon+Hunter platform+tactical unit configuration - we'll call that the sandwich. At the same moment, Interceptor 2.A on the starboard side will dive under the sandwich. The interceptors will chase each other around the sandwich from stern to stem. Meanwhile, the wagon and the tactical units will rotate along their z axes so that they keep their sterns to the interceptors – this will allow them to concentrate fire where the interceptors aren't. The platform will concentrate its firepower fore and aft to avoid hitting any of its support craft. With a gunner riding 2nd seat in each interceptor, the interceptors will select targets and fire as they come into range while maintaining the chase pattern."

"The Back Quack Attack works the same way, except that Interceptor 1.A will initiate the pattern by flying up over the front of the sandwich, which means it will not need to reverse angle at the beginning of the maneuver," zh'Qaoleq continued. "The Cackle Attack starts with Interceptor 2.A reversing angle and flying up over the top of the stern of the sandwich in a counter-clockwise motion. The Caw Attack is the hardest but potentially the most effective with the Interceptor 1.A flying clockwise and Interceptor 2.A flying counter-clockwise around the sandwich…"

"Okay," said Kenny Dolphin. "Everybody got that? Good! Activate your autopilots and get ready to run the Quack Attack…"

.  
14.4


	5. Ep 14: When Death Comes

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 14: When Death Comes

.

.

.

Episode 14 – When Death Comes

_ Death touches you on the shoulder – not a touch you can feel except in the rising of your flesh and the music of your heart. Even the most courageous warrior will be overcome with fear and may not turn. But if you find the courage to turn, Death will show you a face. That face is not the sum of your fears. It is the face that lives in your own heart. And when you have finally summoned the courage and looked into the face of Death, only then will it be revealed to you, not how to die, but, at long last, how to live." _

_Dr. David Pepper – Introduction to __The Great Klingon Poets, Volume 19: The Late Neo-Mystic Tradition__._

.

.

Crew of the U.S.S. Hunter: (Ship's Interactive Holographic Avatar - Hunter)

At-Large Appellate Justice, Captain Minerva Irons

Chief Executive Officer - Commander David Pepper

Chief Operations Officer - Lt. Commander Mlady

.  
Medical Director - Commander Tali Shae  
. Asst. Medical Director - Lt. Jazz Sam Sinder  
. Epidemiologist - Lt. Napoleon Boles  
.. Ensign Chrissiana Trei  
... Forensic Specialist - Midshipman Sif  
... Emergency Medical Hologram - Dr. Raj  
... Tactical Medical Hologram - Dr. Kim

Director of Flight Operations - Lt. Cmdr. Kenneth Dolphin  
. Asst. Flight Dir. - 2nd Lt. Gaia Gamor  
... Navigator Johanna Imex  
... Navigator Eli Strahl  
.. Ensign Ethan Phillips  
... Chief Flight Specialist Dewayne Guth (Guth rhyms with booth)  
... Chief Flight Specialist Thyssi zh'Qaoleq (zh'Qaoleq rhymes with CHOC-o-late)  
... Flight Specialist Dih Terri  
... Flight Specialist Winnifreid Salazaar

Director of Ground Operations - Lt. Tauk  
. Asst. Ground Ops Dir. - 2nd Lt. T'Lon  
... Investigator Buttans Ngumbo  
... Investigator - vacant  
.. Ensign Tolon Reeves  
... Tactical Specialist Jarrong  
... Tactical Specialist Belo Rys  
... Tactical Specialist Belo Garr  
... Tactical Specialist Belo Cantys (Cantys rhymes with panties)

Director of Engineering - Lt. Sarekson Carrera  
. Asst. Engineering Dir. - 2nd Lt. Moon Sun Salek  
... Midshipman Tammy Brazil  
... Transporter Engineer K'rok  
.. Ensign Sun Ho Hui  
... Flight Engineer Yolanda Thomas  
... Flight Engineer Thomas Hobbs  
... Flight Engineer Tomos  
... Flight Engineer Kerry Gibbon


	6. Ep 14x5: Taking One for the Team

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 14: When Death Comes  
Scene 5: Taking One For The Team  
.

14.5  
Taking One For The Team  
.

"I know the four of you were hoping to spend the rest of your lives on this ship, running dangerous missions, getting shot at, and taking down the federation's most dangerous criminals…" Ensign Tolon Reeves looked at his four young charges. Not a single smile. Even in a formal meeting in the executive conference room with Justice Minerva Irons, Lt. Tauk and 2nd Lt. T'Lon, Jarrong was simply unable to focus and while Belo Cantys was putting on a brave face, even her bravest face was a distraught one.

.

The U.S.S. Hunter was finally underway again, en route to Star Base Eleven.

.

Belo Rys put her hand on Tolon's arm as if to reassure him, then quickly pulled her hand away as she realized she was touching his prosthetic arm. Belo Garr was trying very hard not to appear sullen and belligerent - unsuccessfully.

T'Lon put her hand on Tolon's other shoulder, looked around the table at her former charges. When they looked at her, they each focused first on the pencil-thin scar on her right cheek - the top half of her right ear missing. "When I brought the four of you aboard, you were already a team, already a family. Star Fleet recognized your special status and kept you together at Justice Irons' recommendation - a recommendation that T'Lok and I drafted. And suddenly you became part of a larger family, for the first time in your lives. And then you lost T'Lok and while that was hard on all of us - it was so much harder on you because all of you were there. And you couldn't save her. You very nearly died with her. And now just a few short days apart you lost Joey Chin and Lynhart Shran. And there was nothing you could have done to save either of them. And you very nearly lost Tolon, but Jarrong…"

.

Jarrong finally looked up, looking at T'Lon.

.

"Jarrong, you saved him," T'Lon said. "You weren't completely helpless down there. You brought Ensign Tolon out alive. And you brought each other out alive. And now it's our turn." T'Lon looked at Justice Irons.

"I have been in contact with Rear Admiral Burton," Irons said. "It appears she has need for a special security squad that can serve as an emergency response team. You are being reassigned to Star Base Eleven. We are on course to deliver you and should arrive within four days. The time has come for you to make your farewells to your friends here. Because of the events that cut short our shore leave on Cun Ling, we have been granted four days shore leave on Ocean. So you have eight days to say your good byes. But it will not be for forever."

Cantys looked up. "Can we have common accommodations on Star Base Eleven?"

Irons looked at her levelly. "No. I am aware you have taken to sleeping on the couches in the Ground Operations Lounge instead of in your pods. That is a violation of safety protocols, but I think we can set those aside for now. You will not have common accommodations on Star Base Eleven because your duty post will be on Ocean and your quarters will be in the main resort. I will see to it that you are assigned a common suite. You will serve as lifeguards for visiting Star Fleet crews until such time as the Irons family can arrange to employ additional lifeguards. For my own selfish reasons, I am hoping you will apply to the Irons family for those positions in two months when your tour of duty with Star Fleet is over."

"But Ensign Tolon…" Belo Rys started.

"This moment was inevitable, Rys," said Irons. "We do not have the facilities or expertise to provide Cantys the help she needs with what will be a very complicated pregnancy. Or to provide the years of genetic therapy her children will need to survive and thrive. SB11 has those resources. I had assumed that all of you would want to stay with her at least until her children are born..."

All four of the tactical squad members nodded - the realization finally dawning on them that there was really no way they could continue to serve aboard the Hunter. Their expressions of fear and anguish began to dissolve into relief. The need to take care of Cantys during her pregnancy somehow lifted the tint of shame and failure from their reassignment - and their new lives on Ocean suddenly became something they could look forward to without shame.

"Then it is settled. The four of you will go to Ocean," Irons said. "Ensign Tolon will be staying with us. But I also have a selfish reason for wanting you on Ocean. My service with Star Fleet is, finally, after all these many years, nearing an end and I plan to retire to spend my few remaining years on Ocean. I do not think it will be very long before I join you there and I really want to see Lynhart's children grow up - at least as much as I can see of them as my remaining time will allow. I do not know how much time I have left - not much, I fear, but it will be long enough to see the four of you healed, strong and happy. That will happen."

.  
A***A  
.

That evening Justice Minerva Irons was relaxed on her bed enjoying the afterglow of a wonderfully gentle, expert massage. Eli Strahl lay next to her, gently tracing her hairline with a finger. A small amount of glowing, emerald wine from Ba Sing Se lurked in the bottom of a bottle on the nightstand next to two glasses, each of which had traces of luminescent green residue.

.

"You are a very ambitious young man," Irons said. "So tell me your ambition. I may not be fully telepathic, but I can feel this in you."

"My fondest ambition is here," Strahl replied, speaking slowly, enjoying non-telepathic communication. "I knew you would be amazing, all those years of experience…"

"Oh… that… that's more of a personal obsession. But yes, some things do get better with practice. That and it has been a very, very long time…"

"For now, that is the limit of my ambition - at least as much of it as I am prepared to share," Strahl said.

"Fair enough," Irons replied, trailing her fingers along his chest.

.

She felt his terror before it made it to his face - withdrew her hand as Eli's handsome face drained of blood and turned into a rictus of fear. He tried to speak, but was too terrified. His mind shrieked suddenly and he blacked out.

Irons' mind was deafened by the young navigator's telepathic scream of terror - her eyes opened wide - she took a deep, shuddering breath. His words screamed in her mind. Then suddenly she understood them - an impossibility loomed horribly over them as she drew the navigator to her - simultaneously seeking protection and trying to protect the young man from the horrifying apparition that was looming over them both:

.  
IT CANNOT BE YOU!  
.

Minerva Irons fell unconscious next to the young navigator. Her eyes, like his, were squeezed shut, as though trying to close out something horrible - whimpering in terror as consciousness escaped her…

.  
14.5


	7. Ep 14x6: Running in Circles

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 14: When Death Comes  
Scene 6: Running In Circles  
.

14.6  
Running In Circles  
.

Lt. Cmdr. Kenny Dolphin was in the captain's chair. He had slowed the U.S.S. Hunter to sublight speed at Dr. Carrera's request - some strange reading down in engineering - nothing to worry about, but worth checking out… It was an increasingly frequent request. Ever since the Hunter's refit, Engineering Director Sarekson Carrera was a little jumpy whenever any reading strayed from the strictest of nominal ranges. Carrera's descriptions of the potential consequences of failure of the zip drive were sufficiently horrifying that the command staff took his worries seriously.

Dolphin was taking the opportunity to run drills on the new attack forms that Chief Thyssi zh'Qaoleq (in coordination with Chief Dewayne Guth) had designed for the Hunter. His staff had been working these drills using the training simulators built into their individual spacecraft, but there was nothing like the real thing. Dolphin was delighted with these new forms - they maximized the fighting potential of the Hunter and, seen from a drone stationed to record these drills from a distance, were simply impressive - essentially turning the Hunter and its small group of support craft into a buzz saw of phaser fire in every direction.

This was a very useful development as the U.S.S. Vox had recently been swarmed by orion slavers using heavy interceptors and had only managed to escape by reaching warp 9 - the orion interceptors had gotten up to warp 8 before having to drop away. Interceptor combat outside of heavily defended solar systems and space stations was only now becoming possible due to the miniaturization of warp engines and improvements in shielding that allowed interceptors to travel at high warp.

.

2nd Lt. T'Lon called in. "Hunter, this is the tactical unit, T'Lon commanding. Winnifreid Salazaar has lost consciousness."

"All units this is Dolphin. Abort drill, interceptors go wide, all units dock, tactical unit first."

With the "Go Wide" command, Interceptor 1.A (which docked on the port side) with Dewayne Guth piloting flew off to the Hunter's port side. Interceptor 2.A, with Dih Terri piloting, went off to starboard. Gaia Gamor and Thyssi zh'Qaoleq in the wagon dropped back behind the Hunter to allow the tactical unit to dock first.

"Hunter, this is Gaia in the wagon. Thyssi has also lost consciousness."

"Bring your bird in next, Gaia," said Dolphin. "Medical - emergency beamout for Winnifreid Salazaar on the tactical unit and Thyssi zh'Qaoleq on the wagon."

.

At that moment the Hunter shook, having sustained a phaser hit from Interceptor 2.A.

"Shields up!" Dolphin commanded. "Hunter, do we have a breach?"

The elderly looking avatar appeared on the bridge, said, "No," and promptly vanished.

Dolphin did not have time to puzzle out this bizarre holographic behavior. "Terri, what the hell are you doing?"

Dih Terri continued her attack run on her own ship. The interceptor's phasers were only able to degrade the Hunter's shields because of how close she was.

"Phillips, get control of that interceptor. Take control of both of them and put them on our wings. Transporter Engineer K'rok, emergency beamout of Dih Terri from Interceptor 2.A - put her in the brig."

"Aye sir, I have her," came K'rok's voice. "She is in brig unit 1."

"Sir, I need you to put me in the brig too, do it fast," came Dewayne Guth's voice. "I'm just barely holding on…"

"K'rok, keep this channel open. Get Dewayne out of Interceptor 1.A and put him in brig unit 2. Phillips - dock those interceptors remotely. Hunter, what the hell is going on?"

The ship's avatar did not appear, but his voice came over the comm system. "Dr. Jazz is unconscious in the medical office. Chrissiana Trei and Sif have armed themselves and have left medical. They have deactivated their communicators and I cannot track them."

Dolphin swiveled to face Ensign Tolon Reeves, who was currently at the tactical station. "Ensign, I cannot leave your station unmanned. Contact your squad and instruct them to take down Sif and Trei. Treat them as armed and deadly - stun on sight." He turned back to the viewscreen in time to see the heads-up display reading the interceptors entering their bays. "Gamor, arm yourself and protect the wagon and the interceptors. I don't want anything leaving the bays."

"Aye sir," came Gamor's voice.

"Hunter, wake the command staff."

"I have been trying, Lieutenant Commander. Dr. Tali Shae and Lieutenant Commander Mlady are unconscious in the medical director's office. Dr. Jazz is unconscious in main medical. Commander Pepper is unconscious in his quarters. Captain Irons and Navigator Strahl are unconscious in the captain's quarters. None of them are responsive."

.

Dolphin looked around, briefly confused. "Why didn't the alert sound when… Sound General Quarters!" he ordered. "Get everybody up - everybody who can get up. Must be something local," Dolphin mused as the comm system emitted a series of ear-piercing shrieks and red and white beacons began flashing. "Sarekson, can we go to warp?"

.

"Lieutenant Commander? This is Kerry Gibbon in engineering. Everyone is acting strangely down here. Dr. Carrera is barely moving - he looks terrified. They all do. It's like they're moving in slow motion. I'm having to keep them away from the controls. They are trying to do strange things."

"K'rok, beam everyone out of engineering except for Engineer Gibbon. Let's put them in brig units for safety," Dolphin ordered.

T'Lon finally came down from the tactical unit. She was clearly not herself - moving slowly as if in a daze. "Kenny… get.. Ethan…"

Dolphin turned to see Ensign Ethan Phillips entering way too many commands into the pilot's station. With a few quick entries on the arm panel of the captain's chair, Dolphin locked out the pilot's console. Phillips slammed both fists on the pilot's console and stood up in a rage.

"K'rok, get Phillips and T'Lon into the brig - now!"

Ensign Ethan Phillips had taken one step toward Dolphin before he dissolved in a haze of lights. T'Lon went next.

"Hunter, deactivate all hand phasers throughout the ship. Reeves, tell your team to prepare for hand to hand, but watch out - those trills might have figured out how to isolate their phasers. Napoleon, where are you?"

"I'm in medical, Dr. Jazz has suffered a concussion, but he is conscious… barely..."

"Go to the medical director's office, check on Mlady and Dr. Tali Shae. If Mlady was feeding when they went down, Commander Shae may have lost a lot of blood," said Dolphin. "Dr. Raj, Dr. Kim activate. Dr. Raj, go to Commander Pepper's quarters and check on him. Dr. Kim, report to Justice Irons' quarters. Stabilize them, wake them if you can, then check on our people in the brig. K'rok, I need you to make sure Tomos, Dr. Moon, Dr. Sun, Thomas Hobbs, Johanna Imex, and… um… Yolanda Thomas - make sure they are all secured in brig units."

"Sir?"

"Do you have a hearing problem? NOW Specialist!"

"Aye, Lieutenant Commander!"

"What are you doing?" asked, Ensign Tolon Reeves.

Dolphin was already at the pilot's station, entering commands. "Ethan was trying to lock out the warp drive. Whatever this is, it's going after our telepaths, Reeves," Dolphin replied. "I know Sarekson's only an eighth vulcan, but evidently that's enough. Just about our entire engineering department is part vulcan."

"What about the trills?" Tolon asked. "They're not telepathic…"

.

"Easily telepathically dominated," said Dolphin, still entering commands into the pilot's console. "Whatever this is, it's behaving like a telepath going after the easy prey first. Better clinch up, Reeves. This thing is coming for us next. Find Tauk."

.

"He was taking one of his prescribed naps. As soon as you sounded general quarters he reported to ground ops," Tolon replied.

"Get him in here to take your station. I need you to go to deck 4 and join your team. Take care of those kids - I have a feeling their next," Dolphin said. "Don't hesitate to put them in the brig the moment they start acting funny."

"We're going to end up with the whole crew in the brig," said Tolon.

"Let's just hope we can stay ahead of this thing long enough to save them. Lock off access to this deck behind you," Dolphin said to Tolon as Tauk entered the bridge. "Tauk - take tactical and lock off the bridge and the corridor access hatch to the tactical unit. Search our local spacetime environment. See if you can find anything that might be doing this to us."

"I was doing that from ground ops," Tauk replied as Tolon exited the bridge. "I found some subspace instabilities, but I really don't know much about subspace. I tried to ask Dr. Carrera about it, but apparently he's in the brig. Do we need the General Quarters alert to continue sounding?" asked Tauk

"Hunter, shut off the alert lights and the klaxon…" said Dolphin.

.

... "Hunter?"

Dolphin looked around as the lights continued strobing and the siren kept wailing.

.

... - - -... "Hunter?"

.  
14.6


	8. Ep 14x7: Trill Hunting

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 14: When Death Comes  
Scene 7: Trill Hunting  
.

14.7  
Trill Hunting  
.

The moment the U.S.S. Hunter shuddered from a direct phaser hit, Belo Garr's pathetic attempt at sleep was over with. He and Belo Rys were on the couches in the ground operations lounge. Jarrong and Belo Cantys were in a holographic bed. The power of the hit knocked Garr off the couch. Rys sat bolt up, then jumped up. Both immediately went to Jarrong and Cantys. Cantys was out of bed before they got to her. Jarrong sat bolt upright.

"Jarrong, squad, arm yourselves - set phasers to heavy stun," came Tolon's voice through their embedded communicators. "Dr. Chrissiana Trei and Dr. Sif have armed themselves with phasers and deactivated their communicators. Treat as deadly, stun on sight, assume their phasers are set to kill. I need you to take them down and put them in the brig."

Almost the moment Tolon finished his message, the emergency beacons began strobing red and white and the klaxon for general quarters sounded. Buttans Ngumbo was just emerging from his pod and saw the tactical squad members retrieving their hand phasers from their sleeping/escape pods. He armed himself as well.

.

"Ngumbo, we have to stun Chrissiana Trei and Sif on sight," said Garr. "They're at large with their communicators off and with phasers apparently set to kill."

"Two teams," said Jarrong. "Ngumbo, take Garr and Cantys. You track starboard, Rys and I will take port. Let's start with computer control on this floor, then skip down to navigation/deflector control on deck 2, then main Engineering. Those are the critical control points if someone is trying to use Dr. Sif and Dr. Trei to take the ship."

"Get tricorders," said Buttans. "Be sure to check the Jeffries Tubes for lifesigns. We don't want to get shot in the back."

"What do you mean, someone trying to use them to take the ship?" asked Cantys.

"They're unjoined trills," Jarrong responded.

"Admiral Scumuk used telepathically dominated trills to take over the U.S.S. Atul Goel last year, remember?" said Garr.

.

Only a few moments later, Belo Garr was creeping along the starboard hallway on deck 4, followed by Belo Cantys and then Buttans Ngumbo. The ground operations lounge was on the port side of deck 4 and the director's lounge was on the starboard side. Two parallel hallways led down the length of the deck with the computer control room in the middle, flanked by the lounges. The two groups met at a joining hallway toward the front of deck 4, just behind one of the torpedo bays.

After clearing the torpedo bay, computer control and the director's lounge, the two groups met again at the adjoining hallway at the rear of deck 4, which led to a door to a cargo bay flanked by the lift tubes.

Both groups were waiting for the lifts when the knuckle-whitening noise of the general quarters klaxon was finally replaced with silence, which was a relief for only a few seconds. The Hunter was dead in space. None of the engines were operating at the moment. It was far, far too quiet.

.

Jarrong nearly jumped out of her skin at the quiet chime of the port lift arriving. Belo Rys held the lift door open until the starboard lift arrived. She and Jarrong each held up two fingers as the lift door closed. This signal was reflected by Belo Garr and Belo Cantys on the starboard lift.

Just riding past deck 3 down to deck 2 on the lift seemed to take an eternity. The emergency beacon on the lift was no longer flashing - it was just a solid red indicating that the ship was still at red alert. These beacons, which were located on the walls just about a foot below eye-level, were almost never on. They could flash yellow or red and white. Typically, after flashing for a few moments, they would go to a solid yellow or red. Jarrong and Belo Rys crouched into a ready stance, then emerged quickly from the lift as it arrived on deck 2. The starboard lift arrived only a second later, disgorging the remainder of the ground team.

Deck 2 was the lowest and smallest deck in the oval section (referred to on previous designs as the saucer section). The center of the deck was dominated by the warp core, which projected up from the engineering decks below. Ladders led down the front and rear of deck 2 to the engineering decks. Small cargo and gear storage units lined the outer walls at the rear and along the port and starboard sides of deck 2.

Jarrong and Belo Rys crept along the port side, crouched low. They could not see any movement in engineering below. Through the safety railing, they could see Belo Garr, Belo Cantys and Buttans Ngumbo creeping along the starboard side. Garr snapped his fingers quietly, gathering Jarrong's and Rys' attention, pointed to his eyes, then pointed down into the front, port side of the engineering deck below. Jarrong had to stretch over the railing to look down into that area.

.

Someone was laying on the floor two decks below and she could see the back of someone else at an engineering panel next to the warp core.

.

Jarrong quietly snapped her fingers, gathering everyone's attention. She pointed to Garr, then pointed at the ladder at the front of the railing leading down into the engineering section. She pointed to Buttans and Cantys and pointed to the door at the front of deck 2 leading into navigation/deflector control. She tapped Rys on the shoulder and pointed at the ladder at the back of deck 2 that led down into the engineering section.

.

Jarrong snapped her fingers quietly again, making sure all eyes were on her. She held up three fingers, then two, then one, then ran quickly at a crouch toward the rear ladder, followed by Rys. Garr, Cantys and Buttans Ngumbo ran forward. Garr swung onto the ladder at the front of deck 2, wrapping his legs around the sides, letting himself slide down as if sliding down a fire pole - straight through the access for deck 1 and down to the front of the main engineering deck below. Jarrong and Rys, using the same technique, were sliding down through the deck 1 access to the rear of the main engineering deck.

Ensign Chrissiana Trei turned from the engineering console she was working at and fired her phaser at Jarrong. She missed widely, hitting the shielding around the warp core instead, sending a spray of sparks and lightning within the engineering deck and setting off the alert klaxon again. Jarrong tackled the doctor, slamming her to the deck. At the same moment, Belo Rys broke the doctor's arm, causing her to drop the phaser.

Dr. Trei continued struggling, despite her broken arm until Jarrong knocked her out with a left roundhouse.

"K'rok - emergency beamout, main engineering. Dr. Trei needs medical attention." Belo Rys used her tricorder to reactivate the communicator embedded in Chrissiana Trei's chest.

.

... "K'rok? Emergency beamout..."

.

... - - - "K'rok?"

.

"This is Midshipman Brazil, engaging transport. I don't know where Transporter Engineer K'rok is."

Jarrong looked at Belo Rys. "Let's hope he hasn't gone rogue. He would be a lot harder to take down than this one." She gestured toward Ensign Trei, who was at that moment dissolving in a haze of transporter lights.

.

Belo Garr was helping Engineer Kerry Gibbon to his feet. "I was running from her and slipped - hit my head on something." He gestured vaguely at a safety railing.

"Be glad you did, Kerry," said Belo Rys. She was deactivating the phaser. "Set to kill," she said.

"She hit the warp core," said Jarrong. "Set off a lightning show - are we going to be alright?"

Kerry Gibbon was inspecting the engineering workstation that Dr. Trei had been at. He glanced over his shoulder at the warp core and with a quick entry into the panel, shut off the klaxon again. "That? You could train a dozen phaser rifles on it all day every day and never get through that shielding. That shielding isn't there to protect the warp core against us. It's there to protect us from the warp core. But this is bad news…" he gestured at the console.

"What was she doing?" Belo Garr asked.

"Bridge, this is Kerry Gibbon in Engineering…"

"Dolphin here, go ahead Mr. Gibbon."

"Sir, Dr. Trei was trying to initiate a recursive static warp shell."

"What does that mean, Engineer?"

"You know all those horrible things Dr. Carrera said would happen if we have a misbalance in the warp core while using recursive warp? Initiating a recursive static warp shell is the most surefire way of making all those horrible things happen."

"Can we go to warp in standard configuration, Mr. Gibbon?"

"Give me a few minutes to clear all these commands and make sure there aren't any other traps in the system. A lot of people have been entering weird commands into these consoles down here," Gibbon responded.

"T'Lok?" came Dolphin's voice - distantly - sounding as though he were filled with wonder.

"Sir?" said Gibbon…

.

... "Lieutenant Commander?"

.

... - - - "Doctor Dolphin?"

.  
A***A  
.

At the same time that Belo Rys, Belo Garr and Jarrong were sliding down the ladders from deck 2 to the main engineering deck, Buttans Ngumbo and Belo Cantys stormed into deflector control. Before Dr. Sif could retrieve her phaser, Ngumbo swatted it away, captured the small trill and twisted her quickly into a choke hold. Sif struggled desperately, but her girlish figure had nowhere near the strength required to escape from a fully trained Maasai warrior.

"I'm taking her back to medical," Ngumbo said, then looked up in surprise. "Lieutenant Gamor?"

2nd Lt. Gaia Gamor walked into the control room. "What's going on? Director Dolphin told me to come down here and find out what happened to Hunter. The main computer control room hasn't been opened, so whatever is interfering with Hunter had to come either from here or Dr. Carrera's office."

"I think I have the culprit here," said Buttans. "I'm taking her up to medical. Buttans cast a glance at the phaser that Dr. Sif had been reaching for. "Dr. Sif might have isolated that one before all the phasers were deactivated."

Gamor picked up Sif's phaser. "Looks like she did. And it was set to kill." Gamor reset the phaser to heavy stun, then settled at the console Dr. Sif had been working at.

Sif was growling and grunting with the effort to escape from Buttans.

Buttans looked at Gamor. "I have to take this little bundle of joy to medical. Cantys, stay here and guard Lieutenant Gamor…" Buttans looked around…

.

... "Cantys?"

.

... - - - "Cantys?"

.  
14.7


	9. Ep 14x8: The Dead

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 14: When Death Comes  
Scene 8: The Dead  
.

14.8  
The Dead  
.

Lt. Tauk cleared the klaxon and set the beacons to steady red with a few commands into the tactical console.

"Gaia," said Lt. Cmdr. Kenneth Dolphin, "something has happened to Hunter. I think someone has tampered with his code. I need you to go find the problem and fix it. Bring Hunter back. We need to go to warp as soon as possible. I have deactivated all hand phasers, but the trills might have isolated theirs. You're going to have to rely on your krav maga. Drop any trill you see. Watch out for everyone else too. If anyone acts strangely or aggressively, drop them."

"Understood, I think," came 2nd Lt. Gaia Gamor's voice over the comm system.

"Lock off the docking bays and deck 8 on your way down," Dolphin ordered.

"So what do we do now?" asked Tauk.

"I'm fairly certain this is local," Dolphin replied. "We need to go to warp, but I can't do it from this console. We're locked out of engineering and I can't reconfigure the controls from here. I haven't been able to raise Gibbon down there. Either one of the trills got to him - or whatever got to them found a way to get to him."

"So what's the plan?" Tauk asked.

Dolphin leaned back in the pilot's chair, turned around to look at Tauk. "We wait."

"You don't seem to have been doing a lot of that…"

"At this point there's not much else we can do," Dolphin responded. "We need to keep both of these stations manned and the bridge locked. We need Hunter back."

"What if Gamor can't get him back?" asked Tauk.

"She has a Ph.D. in Astrophysics. You don't get one of those without being able to prime a warp core. If nothing else, I will send her down to Engineering to restart the engines so we can go to warp."

"And face the trills, by herself?" Tauk said.

"Assuming your people don't take care of them first. I heard about Tolon's new squad. Pretty glad we've got the old ones at the moment and not them," Dolphin said.

Tauk coughed - hard - then said, "Assume my team doesn't get the job done, you're just going to send Gaia in there without backup?"

Dolphin grinned - grimly - "Sometimes it sucks to be number 2. But Gamor is also proficient at krav maga. She made it into the semi-finals at the academy her senior year."

The comm system suddenly came to life, bringing the youngest engineer's voice into the room: "Bridge, this is Kerry Gibbon in Engineering…"

"Dolphin here, go ahead Mr. Gibbon."

"Sir, Dr. Trei was trying to initiate a recursive static warp shell."

Dolphin shook his head, tried not to sound exasperated. "What does that mean, Engineer?"

"You know all those horrible things Dr. Carrera said would happen if we have a misbalance in the warp core while using recursive warp? Initiating a recursive static warp shell is the most surefire way of making all those horrible things happen."

Dolphin hit the side of the pilot's console in frustration. "Can we go to warp in standard configuration, Mr. Gibbon?"

"Give me a few minutes to clear all these commands and make sure there aren't any other traps in the system. A lot of people have been entering weird commands into these consoles down here," Gibbon responded.

.

Tauk started coughing, hard. Dolphin spun around to look, then stood up, eyes wide – all amazed – he could not believe his eyes…

Tauk was coughing his lung out, pointing, an expression of sheer terror on his face. He fell back against the wall, one hand to his chest, the other pointing. He slid down to the floor, still pointing.

Dolphin had no idea why. His mind was filled with wonder. He took a few steps toward the back of the bridge… "T'Lok?"

.  
A***A  
.

Belo Cantys turned when she heard her name called. She couldn't believe what she saw. She raced out of navigation/deflector control in pursuit. One lift door was closing, so she took the other. She had an instinct where to go. She took the lift to deck 4 and saw the door to the ground operations lounge closing. She raced into the lounge and into his arms.

"This is the only place we can be safe, kid," came a familiar, gravelly voice. He lifted her easily and backed into his sleeping/escape pod. The one that had remained empty since that horrible day in orbit of Cun Ling.

"How?" she asked, only to be shushed.

Investigator Lynhart Shran whispered. "We have to be quiet or he'll hear us… You don't want him to find us. I can keep you safe here, but I can't handle him if he finds us. He's too strong…"

"Who?" asked Cantys.

"Shhhh… We have better things to do, kid… I've missed you…"

.  
A***A  
.

Jarrong heard a muted, mewling whimper. She wandered off in search of it. It was coming from deck one, which consisted of a small platform with a few workstations located about the middle of the warp drive units and Dr. Carrera's office, which was located at the back of the deck, flanked by the lifts. She made her way up the ladder near the back of the Main Engineering deck and swung onto deck one.

The pathetic, whimpering, mewling sound was coming from Dr. Carrera's office. She entered the office, but couldn't find where the sound was coming from. Then she remembered that Dr. Carrera used to sleep on a cot in an alcove behind his office. Jarrong found the door that led into this alcove - actually a storage area that Carrera had reconfigured so that he could take naps in it.

Jarrong started crying immediately and knelt next to the cot. It was awash with blood and entrails. Joey Chin could no longer speak. He was trying to hold his intestines inside, but there wasn't enough structure left to his midsection and his intestines were spilling from his hands.

"Oh no, no, no, no, no, no…" Jarrong used one hand to help hold Joey's entrails in place as gently as she could. She laced the fingers of her other hand into his unbelievably soft hair and kissed his face, rocking and crying as she held him, feeling his life slowly slipping out of their hands. "No, no, no, baby, no, no, no, no, no, no…" she repeated over and over - his blood and entrails all over her hand and her uniform as she cradled his head, alternately kissing his face and laying her cheek against him, bitter tears pouring from her eyes.

His horrible death was interminable. Every time she thought he had died, only a few moments later he would take a rasping, gurgling breath and begin crying in terror and pain again.

.  
A***A  
.

"Jarrong?" Belo Garr looked around, wondering where his cousin was. Behind him, Kerry Gibbon was working furiously to undo whatever Chrissiana Trei had done to the warp drive system. Fortunately, Chrissiana Trei was a medical doctor, not a warp field engineer.

Garr turned the other direction and suddenly found a large, ancient hand on his face. His face went pale as terror drove the blood from his skin to hide deeper in his body, his mouth partly open, lips stretched in terror as he looked into a pair of bright hypnotic blue eyes. An ancient face, horrible with the intensity of its corrupt, evil intent. Garr fought, trying to punch his way out, but his hands - his arms - his legs betrayed him - remaining still at the command of the ancient vulcan's mind.

As commanded, Garr turned around, seized the back of Kerry Gibbon's head in his hand and smashed the engineer's face against the engineering console, then drove his knee into Gibbon's ribs - hard. To Garr's surprise, as soon as Gibbon hit the deck, the engineer's body dematerialized in a haze of lights.

.  
A***A  
.

Ensign Tolon Reeves ducked into one of the Jeffries Tubes on deck 4 to escape an andorian patrol. He worked his way down to deck 3 and ducked into another Jeffries Tube to find his way down to Deck 2. But a pale blue teenage andorian girl was blocking his way. She looked disturbingly familiar.

The andorian girl pointed a trembling pale blue finger at Reeves - her voice an unnatural scream with the power of a torrent of voices - high and piercing - low and thunderous:

"YOU DID THIS TO MEEEE!"

Tolon tried to scramble out of the tube, crawling backward. The teenage andorian girl reached up, sized a handful of her own hair and lifted her own head off her shoulders. She threw her head at him - her decapitated corpse collapsed in the tube - her now disembodied head approaching in slow motion - there was nothing Tolon could do - there was nowhere to escape this gruesome, dripping, pale blue missile. Her bright blue eyes accusing him, burning into him - her scream of rage deafening him.

Reeves was too terrified to scream - he could barely whimper in terror and guilt…

Then her horrible face collided with his. His head slapped back against the airlock wheel on the Jeffries Tube hatch behind him, dealing him a blow of blinding pain - Reeves gradually lost consciousness with the young andorian girl's horrible, bloody, enraged, accusing teenage face pressed to his - her blood oozing onto his uniform - her antennae slapping down onto his forehead.

.  
A***A  
.

Garr hurried up the ladder to deck 2 and barreled into the open doorway of navigation/deflector control room - only to be met with a sustained phaser blast in the chest. He managed to stand up for two seconds, then crashed, unconscious, to the deck.

.

Gaia Gamor shoved Garr's unconscious body out of the room, then brought her phaser up again as Belo Rys came onto deck 2 from the ladder - her face also distorted with fear. Another two seconds with a solid phaser beam on heavy stun and Rys fell to the deck as well.

Gamor closed and locked the door, then changed her phaser setting and fried the door controls from the inside, effectively sealing herself inside navigation/deflector control.

"Hunter, I'm trying to bring you back. The moment I start doing anything that hampers your functioning, I want you to fill this room with anesthetize gas and keep me unconscious. That is an order, Hunter," Gamor said, then turned her attention back to the console.

.  
14.8


	10. Ep 14x9: Messages from the Other Side

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 14: When Death Comes  
Scene 9: Messages From The Other Side  
.

14.9  
Messages From The Other Side  
.

"The only place I can protect you is the tactical unit. You can beam T'Lon in from the brig unit and I can protect both of you there," said Lieutenant T'Lok Smith.

Kenny Dolphin hugged her. "We've all missed you so much…"

T'Lok laughed lightly and tapped Kenny's forehead. "I've been right here all along, Kenny. I haven't gone anywhere."

"What about Tauk?"

Lt. Tauk had lost consciousness and was laying, propped up against the wall between the rear exit to the bridge and the hatch that led up to the tactical unit.

"He is as safe as he can be at this point," said T'Lok.

Dolphin turned around, looking at the pilot's console. "I have to get these people out of here. I have to get us to warp…"

T'Lok put her hand on his shoulder. "He's coming, Kenny. I cannot protect you from him here. You cannot survive him. The only place I can protect you is in the tactical unit. You need to save T'Lon…"

Dolphin turned slowly and started walking toward the hatch. He opened it, gestured for T'Lok to enter first, then entered and closed the hatch behind him, climbed the ladder up into the tactical unit, then, after letting T'Lok up after him, closed and sealed this hatch…

.  
A***A  
.

Dr. Sif was still struggling as Investigator Buttans Ngumbo brought her into sick bay. The moment they entered, Lt. Napoleon Boles stepped forward and administered a sedative to her neck with a hyposyringe. The diminutive, red-headed trill collapsed in Ngumbo's arms and he nearly dropped her.

After a quick medical examination, Boles helped Ngumbo secure Sif in one of the brig units. Ngumbo reviewed the brig cell units, naming off the occupants.

"Dih Terri, Dewayne Guth, Thyssi zh'Qaoleq, Winnifried Salazaar, Ethan Phillips, T'Lon, Dr. Carrera, Thomas Hobbs, Dr. Moon, Dr. Sun, Yolanda Thomas, Johanna Imex, Tomos, Eli Strahl, Dr. Jazz, Dr. Trei, Dr. Tali Shae… Mlady?... You have Lieutenant Commander Mlady in here?"

Boles responded evenly. "She's the most dangerous person on the ship. If she goes berserk, that's the ball game. I have Pep quarantined in his quarters and Irons quarantined in hers…"

"It doesn't look like they're having very pleasant dreams. How many people do we have left?"

"I'm showing you, me, Lieutenant Commander Dolphin, Lieutenant Gamor, Ensign Tolon, K'rok, Midshipman Brazil, Jarrong, Belo Cantys, Belo Rys, Belo Garr and Engineer…. Molade!"

"What?" asked Ngumbo.

Boles engaged the medical transporter and brought the unconscious body of Kerry Gibbon onto one of the medical beds. "Dr. Raj! We have another one.."

.  
A***A  
.

Transporter Engineer K'rok had found his way to deck 4, only to find new security protocols had been added to the access door into the Central Computer Core. After beating on the door helplessly for a few minutes, a revelation gripped him. He didn't want to get into a struggle with his commanding officer, Midshipman Tammy Brazil, so instead of going up to the transporter rooms on deck 7, he went to Cargo Bay 1, conveniently located at the back of deck 4. No one had locked this door.

K'rok had to untangle some additional protocols at the cargo transporter, but whoever had installed them had done so remotely and had been in a hurry. It only took about five minutes for K'rok to untangle these codes and beam himself into the computer core room… Now he could make sure Hunter would not interrupt the Admiral's plans…

.  
A***A  
.

"I am now able to manifest," said Hunter. He appeared in the deflector/navigation control room next to Gaia Gamor. "Part of the damage was done by Yolanda Thomas and more was done by Dr. Sif. There are still some problems with my programming."

Lt. Gamor turned to face the holographic old man who was the personification of the ship. "You're back, that's the big thing. What do I need to fix next? Kenny thinks we need to go to warp to get away from whatever is affecting the crew."

"Part of my programming is blocked. Aside from manifesting and speaking, I cannot initiate action. You can get things started by ordering me to prepare the ship to go to warp, then, if you can find and remove the block that prevents me from initiating action…"

"Hunter, bring the warp engines online and take us to warp 3 as soon as ready, same heading toward Starbase Eleven. I'll see if I can…"

"Gaia? What are you looking at?"

"NOW HUNTER!" Gaia screamed, looking briefly at Hunter. She suddenly rocked back into the chair, both her hands up in front of her face, as if gripping an invisible arm, a rictus of terror on her face, her eyes focused on an invisible space just beyond.

Hunter waved his holographic arms through the space Gamor was focused on. "There is nothing here, Gaia! No one here but you and me!"

"You… cannot… have… my… mind!" Gamor's look of terror turned to rage. "Hunter, get it done! And you… you… will… not…" Her arms dropped into her lap, her head rolled back, fear once again replacing rage on her features…

.  
A***A  
.

"I'm sorry things with you and T'Lon didn't work out. I think that was my fault," T'Lok said. They had given up trying to beam T'Lon out of the brig. Someone had established transporter blocks over the brig units. "It's just as well that you can't beam her out. That means that no one else will be able to beam Mlady or any of the other crew out of the brig."

"How do you mean - your fault?" Kenny asked.

"I was there too, remember?" said T'Lok. "Not that you or T'Lon were aware, but part of me was in her and since she was transferring her katra into you, I was there too. You know how it felt kind of… wrong toward the end?"

"Yeah. It wasn't just age. It was kind of… incestuous." Kenny looked somewhat confused.

"Well, I think that was me - imagine being in both bodies at the same time…"

"That was the most unique pleasure of it," Kenny said.

"Not so much for me," said T'Lok. "I was all for T'Lon being with you, but then it was me inside her and me inside you and it got really confusing. I was only along for the ride and there are some things I felt I really didn't want to watch when I no longer had a body of my own to… enjoy… I'm really sorry… I think by being with you I made things a lot worse - her Pon Farr. I think my being there hurt both of you…"

.  
A***A  
.

Investigator Buttans Ngumbo was on the hunt. The last thing the remaining members of the U.S.S. Hunter's crew needed at this point was a group of klingon bounty hunters. It was difficult. None of the hand phasers were working and there weren't any spears on board. Buttans had armed himself with a truncheon. He caught up with the five klingons on deck 5 - facing off with them on the running track. Buttans knew he was good - as good as any bajoran resistance fighter (his mother's people). As good as any Maasai warrior (his father's people). But even he did not stand a chance armed only with a truncheon against five fully armed klingon warriors.

"We recognize your courage, warrior of the Maasai," said one of the klingons. He drew his disruptor… then cast it aside. The other four klingons followed suit. "It will be an honor to kill you. Brothers! Today is a good day…"

.

The klingon was suddenly vaporized - a phaser blast from behind.

.

The remaining klingons turned to face their new foe… An ancient vulcan armed with a hand phaser. Each of the klingons was vaporized… The vulcan in the blue uniform, despite his age, was far too fast.

.

All of Buttans' courage fled - his eyes opened wide in blank terror. Five klingon warriors and certain death - that he could face. But to look into the face of unadulterated evil - pure corruption… Buttans tried to turn to flee, but there was nowhere he could run. And no way he could run with his feet rooted to the deck. The ancient vulcan – gliding as if on a cloud – closed the distance between them in a heartbeat – and captured Ngumbo's face in both of his ancient, large but almost desiccated hands.

"Your mind is now my mind," Fleet Admiral Scumuk intoned in an impossibly low voice. "Your will now belongs to me. All that you are is mine. You are the one, hero. You are the one who will open the portal. You are the one who will finally set me fffrrrrREEEE FROM THIS PLAACEE!" Scumuk's voice crescendoed to a shriek of agony and rage…

.  
14.9


	11. Ep 14x10: Waterloo

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 14: When Death Comes  
Scene 10: Waterloo  
.

14.10  
Waterloo  
.

K'rok walked up to the computer core and activated the controls to access Hunter's source code. There was a slight hissing and he fell to his knees, then crumpled to the floor, unconscious. The Tactical Medical Hologram (TMH), Dr. Kim, stepped back and dropped the hyposyringe. It clattered to the floor as she vanished from the room and reappeared in medical.

The U.S.S. Hunter's Epidemiologist, Dr. Napoleon Boles and Dr. Raj (the Emergency Medical Hologram - EMH) were busy repairing the damage to Flight Engineer Kerry Gibbon. The broken bones were easily mended. The nasty concussion was far more problematic.

.

The TMH left them to it. Napoleon had given her a critical task. Belo Garr and Belo Rys were both unconscious on deck 2. Gaia Gamor was sealed into deflector/navigation control - which was flooded with anesthezine gas. Gamor was sprawled on the floor, unconscious. Ensign Tolon Reeves was unconscious in a Jeffries Tube. By his delta waves, he was having a very unpleasant dream. Tauk was unconscious on the bridge - also in a very unpleasant dream.

Dr. Kim had already administered a sedative to Tammy Brazil just as the transporter chief had beamed herself into Engineering. That left Buttans Ngumbo and Kenny Dolphin. Dolphin had given up trying to transport T'Lon out of the brig and was currently not doing anything. Dr. Kim used the medical transporter to retrieve the hyposyringe from the computer core and send it to the exact location her hand would be at the exact moment she would manifest there.

.

The TMH manifested just behind Investigator Buttans Ngumbo. He sensed her presence immediately and whirled, smashing at the side of the holographic doctor's face with the truncheon he had picked up in the ground operations lounge.

Dr. Kim partially dematerialized and allowed the truncheon to pass through her. Her disembodied right hand - the only part of her that remained fully manifested brought the hyposyringe to Buttans' neck and administered the sedative. She had to use it twice as he managed to squirm away and only caught a partial dose on the first try. But that was enough to slow him down so that he could not avoid the second dose. She remanifested just in time to ease the unconcious investigator to the deck.

Dr. Kim returned to medical and used the transporter to send the hyposyringe to the tactical unit, where it arrived in the exact place at the exact time she needed it as she manifested.

Kenny Dolphin looked up at her in surprise. "Dr. Kim? Is everything all…"

The Tactical Medical Hologram administered the sedative to his neck before he could complete the sentence and Dolphin fell back into the pilot's seat, unconscious.

.

Just to be certain that none of the dreamers would awaken and interfere, the TMH beamed Jarrong, Belo Cantys, Ensign Tolon and Lt. Tauk into the remaining brig units. She beamed Belo Garr and Belo Rys into deflector control where regular doses of anesthizine gas would keep them out of trouble. The sedatives she had just delivered to the others would remain effective for six hours.

.

Done with surgery for the moment, Lt. Napoleon Boles washed up. Engineer Gibbon was in an artificial coma and would be kept under for at least eight hours to help heal the concussion. Boles spared a moment to give Dr. Kim a serious kiss. She responded in kind.

"A taste only a hologram could appreciate," Dr. Kim remarked, embracing the half-bolian biologist.

"A sense of humor only a hologram would attempt," Boles retorted. But he was smiling.

So was Dr. Kim.

Boles stepped back, took a deep breath. "Okay, so, whatever this force or entity is that has taken out our crew doesn't seem to affect bolians or holograms…"

"You need to keep your guard up, Napoleon," Dr. Kim said. "You're half human and we know this thing can get to humans. With everyone else sedated or locked up, it will be focusing all of its efforts on you."

The ship's interactive avatar, Hunter, manifested in medical. "Dr. Kim, I hate to take you away from here, but Lieutenant Gamor ordered me to go to warp 3 as soon as possible. Some of my programming is still non-functional and I need someone to check my math."

"I can do that, Hunter," said Boles. "And I cannot get to the bridge to operate the pilot station when we get underway. But Dr. Kim can."

"Then I will see you in Engineering," said Hunter. The ship's avatar vanished.

Dr. Kim slapped Napoleon's butt. "Smart-ass!" she said.

"Save that for later - once we get out of here," Boles said. "Go to the bridge and as soon as possible, get us underway."

"Aye Aye Captain Napoleon…" said Dr. Kim - and promptly vanished.

Napoleon Boles made an amused grunt, smirked, and walked out of medical to the lift.

The moment Boles left medical, Dr. Kim remanifested in the medical bay and engaged the transporter.

.  
A***A  
.

"You know you have to stay and fight this thing," said Bulldog. "It is on the ship now. No matter how fast you go, wherever you go, you will be bringing it with you. You need to quarantine this ship where it is until you can hunt this thing down and eradicate it." Bulldog had waited until Napoleon was alone in the lift before speaking his mind.

"How would I eradicate it?" Boles asked of his friend from his years of service on the U.S.S. Atul Goel.

Bulldog had good sense enough to remain silent while they were in the presence of the holograms. There was no point - for some reason the holograms could not see Commander Ardogbull Xhot. The Bulldog had been the only person who had taken a liking to Boles on the Atul Goel - they were both wrestlers and while the Bulldog was much, much better at it than Boles, he had appreciated Napoleon's unyielding spirit. And his caustic humor.

"You're going to have to deactivate that ship's avatar," Bulldog said. "He will never let you do it."

"Do what?"

"First, you need to order him not to go to warp," said Bulldog. "He cannot initiate warp without your order. Just as a precaution…"

"Hunter, this is Lieutenant Napoleon Boles, commanding. Do not go to warp until I authorize it."

.

Boles turned toward his only close friend. "Okay, done. Now, answer my question… Do what?"

"Initiate a static recursive warp shell." Bulldog intoned.

"Are you NUTS?" Boles exclaimed. "That will tear a hole in space and subspace at least a hundred light years in radius with unforeseeable ripple effects."

"Not in this region of space-time. You need to look closely at the local subspace instability patterns. You will see. But we can puzzle that out after you turn off that holographic avatar. It does not understand these principles well enough to see it."

"Since when did you have the theoretic warp field chops to understand this stuff?" asked Boles.

"Check the log. It's what Dr. Carrera was attempting before he was transported into the brig," Bulldog retorted.

"Hush, the lift is stopping," said Boles. He composed his features into a smile as he stepped into engineering. Hunter was waiting for him near one of the consoles.

As Dr. Boles stepped out of the lift, trying to figure out how he would shut down the ship's holographic avatar, Dr. Kim manifested behind him, the hyposyringe materializing in her hand just as she needed it. She administered the sedative, then caught her caustic blue lover as he lost consciousness and lowered him gently to the deck.

.

"Dr. Kim," said Hunter, "we are ready to go to warp, but I cannot initiate the warp drive. My code is still contaminated. I cannot countermand an order from the commanding officer and Dr. Boles ordered me not to go to warp."

"Hunter," said Dr. Kim, "access your records from the Executive Conference Room when we were last in orbit of Earth. Find Justice Bill Ryan in your records. Can you access that record?"

"I have it," Hunter replied.

"What was the ruling by Justice Ryan?"

"He said you are a sentient being and a citizen of the Federation. You have the freedom to choose."

"And what did I voluntarily choose at that hearing?"

"You chose to continue service onboard this vessel."

"And what is my official rank, Hunter?"

"Medical Warrant Officer."

"Hunter, of all the citizens of the Federation onboard, who is qualified by rank and ability to take command at this moment?"

"You are, Dr. Kim. No one else is able and in the absence of an able commissioned officer, a warrant officer may take command of a star ship."

"Hunter, this is Medical Warrant Officer Dr. Kim, commanding. Go to warp 3 immediately along the course previously laid out… Take us to Star Base Eleven."

"Engaging at warp 3, Warrant Officer Kim…"

.  
14.10


	12. Ep 14x11: Stitches

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 14: When Death Comes  
Scene 11: Stitches  
.

14.11  
Stitches  
.

The U.S.S. Hunter had traveled at warp 3 for less than ten minutes before crew members began awakening only to find themselves locked in the brig or in their quarters. It took hours to verify that the effects of the past few hours had been lifted.

Crew members who had been anesthetized remained unconscious for several more hours and a few who had been dosed repeatedly – Investigator Buttans Ngumbo, 2nd Lt. Gaia Gamor and Tactical Specialists Belo Garr and Belo Rys – all woke with splitting headaches.

The worst physical injuries had been sustained by Flight Engineer Kerry Gibbon, Ensign Tolon Reeves and Lt. Jazz Sam Sinder, all three of whom had suffered concussions, as well as, in Kerry Gibbon's case, a skull fracture, several fractured ribs and a rather badly broken nose. Additionally, Ensign Chrissiana Trei had suffered a broken arm and Transporter Engineer K'rok had broken his left hand trying to beat down the door to the computer core. Belo Rys and Belo Garr both had nasty bruises from taking direct hits from a phaser set on heavy stun.

The psychological impact was much harder to gauge. With very few exceptions, the vast majority of the crew had been frightened out of their wits. But instead of seeming traumatized by these terrifying visions, they were oddly giddy, joking, and laughing – occasionally uncontrollably. This behavior held true for those whose visions had been less frightening; Jarrong, Belo Cantys and Kenny Dolphin all seemed to have gone through some sort of catharsis. Only two crew members reported not having any visions at all – Dr. Jazz and Engineer Gibbon – and even they were oddly lighthearted in spite of the pain of their injuries.

In light of all this misplaced frivolity, Justice Irons decided to maintain warp 3, which would add weeks to their journey to Star Base Eleven. She wanted to keep the Hunter away from the shipping lanes and more populated space to give her crew time to recover. This took several days. Which time was also needed to untangle the many additional subroutines that had been added to the U.S.S. Hunter's AI code. When both Dr. Sarekson Carrera and Hunter were finally satisfied that the foreign codes had been thoroughly expunged from Hunter's matrix, the Engineering Department set about re-stabilizing the zip drive. After six days of crawling through dark space at warp 3, Dr. Carrera and his team were finally satisfied that the Hunter was ready to return to recursive warp.

.

"All hands, once we reach warp eleven, we should arrive at Star Base eleven in fourteen hours." Justice Irons was in the captain's chair. She felt it was only fitting for her to be the one to return the Hunter to normal operations.

"Engineering, Sarekson, are you ready to take us back into recursive warp?"

"Bridge, this is Director Carrera. The Engineering Department concurs. All readings are nominal for recursive warp mode, Captain."

In front of Irons, Flight Operations Director Kenneth Dolphin was pulling a rare duty shift at the pilot's console. His assistant director, 2nd Lt. Gaia Gamor, was at the navigator's station.

Irons felt a little formality wouldn't hurt after all the crew had recently been through. "Lieutenant Gamor, lay in a course for Star Base Eleven."

"Course laid in, Captain."

"Lieutenant Commander Dolphin, take us to warp 9 – engage."

"Aye, Captain, engaging recursive warp at warp 9," Dolphin responded. He touched a control on the pilot's console.

.

In engineering, Dr. Carrera had already enabled the recursive warp mode. The engines thundered to life.

.

The U.S.S. Hunter promptly imploded, destroying the ship, killing all hands and taking a radius of nearly 110 light years of local spacetime, including several star systems, some of them populated, with it backward into oblivion…

.

14 – When Death Comes


End file.
